


Annual Meeting

by GemmaRose



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Family Drama, Gen, Seasons family, Sera is a bamf momma, Zeus is a stupid asshole, not Big Four
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 02:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mother Nature's name is not just for show. Her powers and title were granted to her by MiM for the express purpose of guiding the four Seasons year after year, making sure they don't turn the Amazon into a desert or make glaciers in Australia. Of course, her job is complicated by the fact that her wards are all children.</p><p>de-anon from rotg-kink</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jack landed hard, breath rushing out of him as Mali drummed her little fists on his head. "Gotcha, gotcha gotcha!" she chanted happily, laughing with all the warmth of her season. "Bewy, I gots Fwosty!"

Belinda chuckled and plucked a crisp red leaf from her crown, twirling it once before letting the wind carry it over to distract the youngest Seasonal. "Brian's wrapping up in the British Isles." she said with a wry smile, helping Jack to his feet. "What kept you?"

The winter sprite beamed and pulled down on the collar of his hoodie, displaying the tattoo North had given him not two days previously. Belinda gasped, and Jack's grin widened. "I know, right?"

"Jack, that's amazing!" she grinned, grabbing his hands. "Mom is gonna be so happy. Well, you might not wanna show her the tattoo but you know what I mean."

Jack glanced around the clearing, looking for the familiar stormy black hair and shimmery grey gown their mother-spirit always wore. "Yeah, where is mom anyways?"

"Momma said she hadda get Gwanpa." Mali chirped, toddling over with a bewildered look. "Bewy, who's Gwanpa?"

Jack and Belinda exchanged looks, and the older Italian spirit scooped up their baby sister. "Mali, we're gonna go get Brian and then come right back, okay?"

The tiny black-haired girl nodded, grinning wide. "Fwy?"

Jack and Belinda both laughed, each one summoning their favoured wind. "Mali, do we ever not?" Jack grinned, bopping his sister on the nose.

The child laughed and clapped her hands. "Up! Up!" she squealed, and her own wind joined theirs to create a braid of hot, cold, and pleasantly cool.

It wasn't far to the forest their elder brother liked to call home, but the flight was tense and the only conversation was Mali's chatter to herself. They landed when Jack saw their brother's trademark interlocking rings of flowers, and the first thing they heard was screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

Mali began to wail at the sound of her eldest brother in pain, and Belinda clapped hand over her mouth to quiet her. Jack called wind from the direction o Brian's voice, and the images it brought him would have made him retch even just a few decades ago. His older brother, the very embodiment of everything which grew and bloomed between his own season and Mali's, was splayed out on the ground. His skin was held open with spikes of what felt like raw energy, and a familiar form crouched over Brian's tense frame. "It's Zeus." he choked, unable to blink away the sight he'd just seen. "He's got Brian pinned open like a frog in Anatomy."

Belinda swore, and a cool breeze tossed Mali towards Jack. "You hold onto her." she ordered, pointing at the youngest Seasonal spirit. "I'll go boot this washed up God back to his mountain."

Jack grinned queasily and sat, pulling Mali into his lap. "Thanks, Bel."

The air crackled, and when Jack inhaled it felt like somebody had given a small electric shock to his lungs. Zeus hadn't had power of this magnitude since long before the Moon raised him, and there was only one other spirit with the power to electrify the very air. Jack looked up, and when Mali followed his gaze she began to clap happily.

"Momma! Momma! Up! Up!" she cried, tiny face falling into a pout when Gaia didn't break stride. Standing, Jack held his tiny eldest sibling close and followed the rest of his family. Zeus dodged Mother Nature's first attack, but his scatter of bolts went wide and cut into the trees on Jack's left. Mali ooh-ed, and Jack only barely managed to keep her from clapping at the display of bright lights. If Zeus started aiming for them, Gaia would kill him herself.

The fight didn't even last thirty seconds, escalating quickly to the point where Gaia dropped a tall maple on the God's head. Zeus crumpled, and Jack set Mali down so he could hold his staff while keeping a firm grip on her hand.

"What on Earth possessed you to attack this spirit?" her hair crackled, and Jack felt a thrill of anticipation. When she wasn't getting mad at him, Mother Nature's wrath was a sight to behold.

Zeus snarled at her, pulling his hands free of the massive trunk which pinned him. "He trespassed on my territory." he spat at Mother Nature's feet, scowling up at her unearthly pale face.

"You think the whole sky is your territory." she bit back, stepping hard on one of his hands. Zeus yelled in pain, and Mali beamed.

"I should strike down all the foolish mortals who dare to cross my claim." he bit out. "Are you not thankful I only attacked this one minor spirit?"

"This is not an attack for trespassing. That is merely a bolt of lighting to the head." she gestures to where Belinda was stroking Brian's face and whispering soothing words. "This is torture, plain and simple."

Zeus grinned, and Jack recognised the all-teeth smile of a man who has lost all hope. "He has no legacy, no worshipers, he is nothing."

Mother Nature pulled herself up straighter, growing like a tree until she was roughly seven feet tall. "Had you bothered to look, you would have seen that he is not a nobody. He is Spring personified, you moronic ass."

The Old God's confidence disappeared like a light shutting off, and Jack knew without looking that both his sisters were smiling. Mother Nature conjured a blade made of fire and ice, and poised it over Zeus's head. "By the ancient laws, I find you guilty of wanton torture." she intoned. "You are not entitled to a trial. Any last words?"

"Yeah, go to hell, Bitch." The God's eyes flashed, and Jack saw the flick of his wrist before it came. Dropping Mali's hand, he leapt the yards between himself and the fallen tree on a wind and landed directly in front of Mother Nature. She had begun to shrink after a few seconds as a giantess, so the energy aimed at her heart hit Jack in the shoulder. He felt his heart beat twice as the electricity coursed through him, and as he fell to his knees Mother Nature brought the sword down on Zeus's neck. The sword vanished when she removed her hands from it, and Jack dimly felt himself be picked up in warm arms that smelled like grass and clean rivers and home. He'd be foggy for the next hour or two, but it took a lot more to kill Winter than a single lighting bolt to the shoulder.

He felt Belinda and Mali's winds pass over him furtively, and smiled. "'M fine." he mumbled, waving an arm limply. "'S jus a li'l lightnin."

"Fwosty be ok?"

"Your brother will be fine, Mali." Mother Nature said calmly. "Help your sister with Brian, would you? I can't very well care for the boys here."

"Ok, momma." Mail chirped, toddling off to help remove the spikes which pinned Brian in place.

"Jack, can you stand? I will need to carry your brother."

"I can stand, but Bel will have to help me fly." he admitted reluctantly. 

"There is no shame in asking your family for help, Jackson. You are injured. I'll be treating you as well, once we get to the meeting place."

Jack nodded, and when Mother Nature set him down he leaned heavily on his staff for balance. Belinda's cool hand on his arm was his guide as they lifted off behind Mother Nature, and by the time they landed again in their clearing Jack's head was beginning to clear. It was more than clear enough to recognise the ball of shadow in the corner, as well as one of horses which stood guard over it. He knew how the black one felt when it dissolved in a sweep of his staff, and how very solid it could be ramming into your chest at high speeds. The smaller silver one at its side, however, looked like it was made from water and light and the air itself.

Mother Nature swept past Pitch as if he weren't even there, carrying Brian over to the large, flat rock they used as a table. Jack managed to move without tripping or just plain falling over, and soon he was standing over the defeated Nightmare King. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't freeze you solid right this instant."

Pitch groaned, and Jack prodded the man with his staff. Pitch batted it away, and Jack sighed as he recognised the dark grains swirling around Pitch's head. No point in threatening someone who couldn't understand you. The poor sap was stuck in a nightmare. Talk about karma.

Belinda gave him a curious look, but he waved it off. "I'll explain it later. Let's make sure Mali doesn't set anything on fire."

Belinda chuckled and took Jack's elbow, steadying him as they walked over to entertain their sister. "Well, at least one non-sucky thing came of this." she remarked as Mali busily turned sticks and leaves into tiny dolls.

"What?"

Belinda smiled warmly. "We can still say that every one of our meetings since your birth has been interesting."

Jack scoffed and elbowed her, grinning as Mali gave him a leaf folded into a teacup. "You and your records."

"Can't help who I am, Jack." she smiled, accepting her own leaf cup.

"Jack, Bewy."

"Yes?" the spirits answered in tandem.

"A toast!" Mali chirped happily, holding out her empty cup. "To Momma an Bwian an Jack."

Jack chuckled and gently knocked his leaf cup against hers. "To our family."

"To family." Belinda echoed, bumping her empty leaf against both of theirs.

Mali beamed, and Jack and Belinda let the eldest spirit lead the conversation as they pretended to sip tea with all the little stick-and-leaf people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I get any comments on this thing, 'm just gonna say a few things.  
> 1-I can't anatomy for shit so the details of the vivisection are up to your imagination.  
> 2-Mali is _supposed_ to be creepy.  
>  3-All four of them have lived through _both_ World Wars, not to mention all the wars in between, before, and after. Jack is the one who avoided battlefields the most, which is why he reacted as strongly as he did.


	3. Chapter 3

"No no, Mali, the flower comes before the fruit."

Jack's head whipped up, and he beamed at Brian crouching next to their smallest sibling. "You're okay!" he cried, leaping over and giving his brother a hug.

"Yes, you dolt. I'm immortal." he deadpanned, raising a hand to hit the youngest of them.

Jack danced back from Brian's blow with a grin. "Yeah, but I thought Mom would keep you on bed rest until tomorrow."

"Yeah, what's up?" Belinda chimed in from her seat on a rock. "And where's mom? She has us gather here so she can see us all at once, and she's not here."

"She'd patching up some other guy."

"Pitch." Jack supplied. "Pitch Black, King of Nightmares. He tried to take over the world at Easter."

"Oh, that's what all the horses were?" Belinda chuckled. "Night Mares, hehe, that's cute. They make great carriage horses, once you get them hitched up."

Mali laughed, and the picture cards in front of her began to smoulder. "Horsey! Horsey!"

Jack and Brian just shook their heads. "I will never understand you." Brian grinned.

Belinda stuck out her tongue. "I think I got some people thinking there were Thestrals in London."

Jack cackled. "Okay, I revise my opinion." he laughed. "You're a _genius_."

"Thank you." she smirked, fluffing her hair.

"So, what's new with you?" Brian asked, turning to Jack with an expectant look.

Jack grinned. "I'm a Guardian now." he said proudly, pulling down his hoodie to reveal the distinctive G.

"You got a tattoo?" Brian gaped.

"Guardian membership. Apparently all of them have one."

"Have. One. What?" a stern voice said slowly from behind them.

Jack swallowed nervously, turning to give Mother Nature a hesitant smile. "A, um, Guardian tattoo?"

Her storm-cloud hair crackled with lightning, and Jack found his hair standing on end. "A _WHAT_?"

"It's really little, I swear!" he yelled, bringing his arms up to guard his face. "You can't even see it!"

The static in the air lessened, and Jack cracked an eye open.

"Show it to me." she demanded. He pulled on his collar for the third time, displaying the mark that designated him a proper Guardian.

"See? Real little. It's just another protection from jackasses like Zeus." he blurted, holding the fabric as the spirit who'd mothered him brushed her green-nailed fingers around the sensitive skin.

"Nicholas should have gotten my permission first, but I suppose it can no longer be helped." she sighed. "As for the man resting across the clearing, I know you all have questions."

"Yeah, like what's the Boogieman doing here?" Jack grumbled, crossing his arms.

Mother Nature shot him a hard glare. "Frost, if you continue to be impudent I _will_ accompany you on next winter's rounds."

Jack winced. "Sorry."

"As I was saying, that man over there was once my father. He has suffered a great defeat and injury, and you will be courteous to him both now and in the future." she looked at all of them, her face stern. "Am I understood?"

Four heads nodded, and she smiled warmly. "Now that's done with, you all come here so I can hug you."

Mali sprinted over, launching herself to cling to their mom's arm. Belinda was next, followed by Brian, and Jack hugged his mother and siblings tight. The news about Pitch would have to be relayed to the Guardians, and it'd be a pain not kicking his ass while they were in this place together, but he'd done worse. Admittedly mostly in regards to his siblings, but still!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more Pitch in the next one, plus a buttload of family fluff and cuddles.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, clarifications. Belinda is physically in her twenties, and has been around since the Rennesaince. Mali is two or three, Asian, and predates four-digit years. Brian is from the time of the Roman Empire, is physically about 18 though he looks older, and he was a Celt. Also, each of them speaks a different language. Some root Asian dialect for Mali, Gaelic for Brian, Italian for Belinda and of course English for Jack. They all speak and understand each other just fine, though anything addressed to Mali is in Ancient whatever-it-is.


End file.
